Garment hanger

ABSTRACT

There is provided a garment hanger having a function of preventing shoulder portions of a garment from losing their original shapes, capable of being vertically stacked and not bulky in packing to reduce transportation cost, and not requiring time and effort to assemble into a three-dimensional shape. A hanger includes a hook portion and a hanger main body having a pair of left and right shoulder support portions for supporting shoulder portions of a garment, wherein upper faces of the shoulder support portions are inclined from a front side toward a back side of the hanger main body, a front-back thickness of each of the shoulder support portions is greater than a basic thickness of the hanger main body, and overlap thicknesses between the front and back shoulder support portions when the plurality of hanger main bodies are stacked in a thickness direction are greater than or equal to a difference between the front-back thicknesses and the basic thickness.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(1) Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a garment hanger which prevents a collar and shoulder portions of a garment from losing their original shapes.

(2) Description of Related Art

Jacket such as business suits and blazers are hung on hangers to be kept at laundries until customers come to pick up the jackets. The hangers used in such laundries (hereinafter, referred to as the “hangers for laundries” in some cases) need to be as inexpensive as possible, because it is difficult to include cost of the hangers in laundry charge.

Conventionally, wire hangers are used in many cases as a hanger for laundries. However, since the wire is thin and does not have thickness, when a jacket is hung on the hanger, collar and shoulder portions are folded down to the front and back and the jackets lose their original shapes. In many cases, a garment picked up from the laundry is not worn right away and it is often the case that the item of clothes which was dry-cleaned on an occasion of changing clothes for the new season is hung in a closet with or without a cover for a long time until the next season. Consequently, not only the collar and shoulder portions, but also front and back portions sag and wrinkle and it is difficult to smooth out the wrinkles when wearing the garments.

Most of the wire hangers are thrown away as waste after being used for a certain period of time at home and are difficult to recycle. However, plastic hangers which can be recycled or collected are becoming increasingly common.

A basic structure of a plastic hanger includes a hanger main body 50 and a hook portion 51 molded integrally with each other as shown in FIG. 1, for example. The hanger main body 50 has shoulder support portions 52 and a pants hanging lateral bar 53 and is also integrally provided with pants retainers 54 and 55, collar retaining portions 56, shoulder retaining portions 57, skirt strap hanging portions 58 and 59, shoulder strap hanging portions 60, skirt clip holding holes 61, and a hanger raising/lowering bar hook portion 62.

This ordinary plastic hanger is integrally molded of plastic such as polypropylene and has a flat shape of about 7 mm thick. If the plastic hangers are placed horizontally, they can be stacked in a vertical direction. However, it is inevitable that a garment hung on this hanger for a long period of time easily loses its shape and is wrinkled, although not as badly as when it is hung on the wire hanger of about 2 to 3 mm in wire diameter.

On the other hand, hangers used in an apparel industry and the like are intended to show designs of new garment and cost of the hangers is not such an important aspect. Rather, the hangers are characterized by round shoulder support portions and collar retaining portions so as to retain shoulder portions and neck and collar portions in three-dimensional shapes. In order to impart such a function of maintaining the garments in the three-dimensional shape to a hanger for laundry, there is provided a plastic hanger as shown in FIG. 1 with the shoulder support portions 52 increasing in thickness toward their tip ends and having arc-shaped cross-sections. However, if the shoulder portions have the arc-shaped cross-sections, such hangers cannot be stacked vertically when they are packed, because the shoulder portions of the hangers interfere with each other. As a result, the number of hangers that can be packed is reduced as compared with the flat hangers, which increases transportation cost.

As a hanger devised in consideration of vertical stacking of a large number of hangers, there are ones described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Nos. 2002-360995, 2008-194440, and Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 3065276. However, each of the hangers is a hanger for maintaining a collar portion of a shirt such as a dress shirt in a three-dimensional shape and not for maintaining shoulder portions of a jacket or the like in three-dimensional shapes.

In Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-160555, the present applicant has disclosed an inexpensive plastic hanger having a function of preventing the shoulder portions of the jacket from losing their shapes, capable of being stacked when a large number of hangers are packed, not bulky during transportation, and having the reduced number of parts.

In other words, there is disclosed a garment hanger having a neck portion connected to a base end portion of a hook portion and both shoulder support portions formed on opposite sides of the neck portion, the neck portion and the shoulder support portions molded integrally with each other. Shoulder pad pieces are formed at the opposite shoulder support portions to be bent at hinge portions and engaging units are provided to maintain the shoulder pad pieces in bent states in which the shoulder pad pieces cover both the shoulder support portions.

In this garment hanger, by connecting the shoulder pad pieces to the opposite shoulder support portions to be bent at the hinge portions, the shoulder pad pieces having functions of preventing the shoulder portions of the garments from losing their shapes are integrated with the hanger. Moreover, by bending the shoulder pad piece at the hinge portion and engaging the shoulder pad piece with the shoulder support portion in assembly, it is possible to assemble the shoulder pad piece with a single touch.

According to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-160555, the large number of hangers can be stacked vertically with their shoulder pad pieces open during packing and transportation and are not bulky. However, to use the hanger, it is necessary to assemble the hanger into a three-dimensional shape by bending the shoulder pad pieces at the hinge portions and engaging them with both the shoulder support portions, and the bending and engaging require time and effort.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a garment hanger having a function of preventing shoulder portions of a jacket from losing their shapes, capable of being stacked vertically in packing, not bulky, capable of reducing transportation cost, and saving trouble of assembling into a three-dimensional shape.

In order to achieve the above object, a garment hanger having a first structure of the present invention is a hanger including a hook portion; a collar support portion connected to the base end of said hook portion, which maintains a shape of a collar portion of a garment; and a hanger main body having a pair of left and right shoulder support portions for supporting shoulder portions of a garment, said pair of left and right shoulder support portions are connected at both ends of said collar support portion, wherein a front-back thickness A of each of the shoulder support portions is greater than a basic thickness T of the hanger main body, said basic thickness T is equal to the thickness of said base end of said hook portion, and an overlap thickness between a front shoulder support portion and a back shoulder support portion when the plurality of hanger main bodies are stacked in the thickness direction is almost equal to a difference between the front-back thickness A and the thickness T; a front-back thickness B of the collar support portion is greater than the basic thickness T of the hanger main body, and an overlap thickness between a front collar support portion and a back collar support portion when the plurality of hanger main bodies are stacked in the thickness direction is almost equal to a difference between the front-back thickness B and the thickness T; and a cross-sectional shape of at least of the near portions of said collar support portion or whole of each of the shoulder support portions is a combination of a lower C-shaped forward curved portion and a flipped-C-shaped collar receiving portion with a reversed center of curvature above the forward curved portion. With this structure, the shoulder support portions increase in thickness to prevent a garment from losing its original shape. Moreover, a total thickness is reduced even if a large number of hangers are stacked vertically in packing. Furthermore, it is unnecessary to assemble the hanger into a three-dimensional shape and the hanger can be used as it is as a three-dimensional hanger for laundries.

Since, in the garment hanger of the present invention, a front-back thickness A of each of the shoulder support portions is greater than a basic thickness T of the hanger main body T, and overlap thicknesses between the front and back shoulder support portions when the plurality of hanger main bodies are stacked in the thickness direction are greater than or equal to a difference between the front-back thickness A and the thickness T, it is possible to maintain a shape of a collar portion of the garment.

Since, in the garment hanger of the present invention, a collar support portion having a front-back thickness B greater than the basic thickness T of the hanger is formed above the pair of left and right shoulder support portions and the collar support portion has such a shape that an overlap thickness between the front and back collar support portions when the plurality of hanger main bodies are stacked in the thickness direction is greater than or equal to a difference between the front-back thickness B and the thickness T, it is possible to minimize a total thickness of the plurality of vertically-stacked hangers.

Since, in the garment hanger of the present invention, a cross-sectional shape of at least of the near portions of the collar support portion or all of each of the shoulder support portions is a combination of a lower C-shaped forward curved portion and a flipped-C-shaped collar receiving portion with a reversed center of curvature above the forward curved portion, the shoulder portions of the garment are supported by round portions of the shoulder support portions to be further effectively prevented from losing their shapes and it is possible to hang the garment on the hanger in both forward and backward orientations.

In the garment hanger having a second structure of the present invention, in case that said cross-sectional shape of near portions of said collar support portion of each of the shoulder support portions is a combination of a lower C-shaped forward curved portion and a flipped-C-shaped collar receiving portion with a reversed center of curvature above the forward curved portion, a cross-sectional shape of remaining side portions continuing to said near portions of the shoulder support portions in the first structure is a combination of a central vertical rib portion, a first arc-shaped protruding portion protruding forward from an upper portion of the vertical rib portion, and a second arc-shaped protruding portion protruding backward from the upper portion of the vertical rib portion, and there is a height difference between positions of the first arc-shaped protruding portion and the second arc-shaped protruding portion so that, when the plurality of hanger main bodies are stacked in the thickness direction, an upper portion of the first arc-shaped protruding portion and a lower portion of the second arc-shaped protruding portion of the adjacent hangers come in contact with each other in a vertical direction. With this structure, the shoulder portions of the garment are supported by round portions of the shoulder support portions to be further effectively prevented from losing their shapes and it is possible to hang the garment on the hanger in both forward and backward orientations.

Particularly, because the cross-sectional shape of each of the shoulder support portions changes from its midpoint, a kind of reinforcing rib effect can be obtained and strength of the shoulder support portions increases.

In the hanger having a third structure of the present invention, a vertical thickness of a top portion of the hook portion is smaller than a depth of a groove of a screw conveyor which is an automatic conveying device in a laundry establishment and a wall thickness of the hook portion is increased to make up for a shortage of strength. As a result, the hanger can pass through bearings of the screw conveyor without trouble when the hook portion of the hanger is hung on the screw conveyor used as a conveying mechanism in the laundry establishment.

According to the present invention, in the hanger including the hook portion, the collar support portion connected to the base end of the hook portion, which maintains the shape of the collar portion of the garment; and the hanger main body having the pair of left and right shoulder support portions for supporting shoulder portions of the garment, the pair of left and right shoulder support portions are connected at both ends of the collar support portion, wherein the front-back thickness A of each of the shoulder support portions is greater than the basic thickness T of the hanger main body, the basic thickness T is equal to the thickness of the base end of the hook portion, and the overlap thickness between the front shoulder support portion and the back shoulder support portion when the plurality of hanger main bodies are stacked in the thickness direction is almost equal to a difference between the front-back thickness A and the thickness T, the front-back thickness B of the collar support portion is greater than the basic thickness T of the hanger main body, and the overlap thickness between the front collar support portion and the back collar support portion when the plurality of hanger main bodies are stacked in the thickness direction is almost equal to a difference between the front-back thickness B and the thickness T; and the cross-sectional shape of at least of the near portions of said collar support portion or all of each of the shoulder support portions is the combination of the lower C-shaped forward curved portion and the flipped-C-shaped collar receiving portion with a reversed center of curvature above the forward curved portion. As a result, the shoulder support portions increase in thickness to prevent the garment from losing its shape and the total thickness is reduced even if the large number of hangers are stacked in packing. Moreover, it is unnecessary to assemble the hanger into the three-dimensional shape and the hanger can be used as it is as the three-dimensional hanger for laundry. Furthermore, the hangers can be reused at home as normal hangers on which the garments are less liable to lose their original shapes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an example of an ordinary conventional hanger for laundry;

FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of a garment hanger of a first referential example of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a back perspective view of the garment hanger according to the first referential example of the present invention;

FIGS. 4A to 4D are enlarged cross-sectional views of the garment hanger according to the first referential example of the present invention, wherein FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view along line A1-B1 in FIG. 2, FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view along line A2-B2 in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4C is a cross-sectional view along line A3-B3 in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4D is a cross-sectional view along line A4-B4 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a front perspective view of a garment hanger of a second referential example of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a back perspective view of the garment hanger according to the second referential example of the present invention;

FIGS. 7A to 7E are enlarged cross-sectional views of the garment hanger according to the second referential example of the present invention, wherein FIG. 7A is a cross-sectional view along line C1-D1 in FIG. 5, FIG. 7B is a cross-sectional view along line C2-D2 in FIG. 5, and FIG. 7C is a cross-sectional view along line C3-D3 in FIG. 5, FIG. 7D is a cross-sectional view along line C4-D4 in FIG. 5, and FIG. 7E is a cross-sectional view showing another example of a collar support portion;

FIG. 8 is a front perspective view of a garment hanger according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a back view of the garment hanger according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a side view of the garment hanger according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 11A to 11D are enlarged cross-sectional views of the garment hanger according to the embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIG. 11A is a cross-sectional view along line E1-F1 in FIG. 8, FIG. 11B is a cross-sectional view along line E2-F2 in FIG. 8, and FIG. 11C is a cross-sectional view along line E3-F3 in FIG. 8, and FIG. 4D is a cross-sectional view along line E4-F4 in FIG. 8;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a state in which the garment hangers according to the embodiment of the present invention are stacked in four layers;

FIG. 13 is a side view of a state in which the garment hangers according to the embodiment of the present invention are stacked in ten layers;

FIG. 14 is a front perspective view of a garment hanger according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a rear perspective view of a garment hanger according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 14;

FIG. 16A is a cross-sectional view along line E3-F3 in FIG. 14, and

FIG. 16B is a cross-sectional view along line E4′-F4′ in FIG. 14;

FIG. 17A is a front view showing a shape of a hook portion of the garment hanger according to the present invention in a case where use of a screw conveyor for automatic conveyance in a laundry establishment is not considered, FIG. 17B is a plan view, and FIG. 17C is an enlarged cross-sectional view of an upper portion of the hook portion; and

FIG. 18A is a front view showing the shape of the hook portion of the garment hanger according to the present invention in a case where the screw conveyor for automatic conveyance is used in the laundry establishment, FIG. 18B is a plan view, and FIG. 18C is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the upper portion of the hook portion.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present invention and referential examples will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.

First Referential Example

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a garment hanger 10 of a first referential example of the present invention includes a hook portion 11, a collar support portion 12, shoulder support portions 13, and a pants hanging lateral bar 14, and is also integrally provided with shoulder end retaining portions 15, pants retainers 16, skirt strap hanging portions 17, skirt clip holding holes 18 in which upper portions of skirt clips as separate members are hooked, and a hanger raising/lowering bar hook portion 19. The whole garment hanger 10 is integrally molded of thermoplastic resin such as polypropylene.

In the first referential example, the pair of left and right shoulder support portions 13 for supporting shoulder portions of a garment hung on a hanger main body made up of the collar support portion 12 and the shoulder support portions 13 have greater front-back thicknesses A than a basic thickness T of the hanger and that front and back cross-sectional shapes of the shoulder support portions 13 are such shapes as to be stacked on each other with an overlap thickness greater than or equal to a difference between the front-back thickness A and the thickness T. As shown in FIGS. 4B-4D, a rib R1 is provided to the bottom of the shoulder support portions 13 for their reinforcement.

In other words, as shown in FIGS. 4A to 4D showing cross-sections of the respective portions of the shoulder support portion 13, if a thickness of the collar support portion 12 to which a base end of the hook portion 11 at a center of the hanger main body is connected (=a thickness of the pants hanging lateral bar 14) is the basic thickness T, the front-back thicknesses of the shoulder support portions 13 increase toward opposite ends to reach the front-back thicknesses A (see FIGS. 4B to 4D). The front-back thicknesses A are about twice the basic thickness T in the present reference example. If the front-back thickness of each of the shoulder support portions 13 of the hanger having the basic thickness T is A (>T), a stack thickness is A×n when a plurality of (n) hangers are normally stacked in the thickness direction, and becomes greater than a thickness T×n in the case of simply stacking n hangers having the basic thickness T.

In the present reference example, as shown in FIGS. 4A to 4D, the shoulder support portions 13 having round cross-sectional shapes in order to keep shapes of the shoulder portions are inclined so that protruding portions of the shoulder support portions 13 of an adjacent hanger are fitted over or below the adjacent shoulder support portion 13 when the hangers are stacked on each other. In other words, the shoulder support portions 13 have such cross-sectional shapes that front sides and back sides of the shoulder support portions 13 are fitted with each other. As a result, even though the front-back thicknesses of the shoulder support portions 13 are about twice the basic thickness T, the thickness of the n stacked hangers is about T×n (to be exact, T×n+(A−T)), and the number of hangers which can be housed in a package for transportation is equivalent to the number of flat hangers, and the hangers are not bulky.

Second Embodiment

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a garment hanger 20 according to a second reference example of the present invention includes a hook portion 21, a collar support portion 22, shoulder support portions 23, and a pants hanging lateral bar 24 and is also integrally provided with shoulder end retaining portions 25, pants retainers 26, skirt strap hanging portions 27, and skirt clip holding holes 28 in which upper portions of skirt clips as separate members are hooked. The whole garment hanger 20 is integrally molded of thermoplastic resin such as polypropylene.

In addition to the characteristics of the first reference example that the pair of left and right shoulder support portions 23 for supporting shoulder portions of a garment hung on a hanger main body made up of the collar support portion 22 and the shoulder support portions 23 have greater front-back thicknesses A than a basic thickness T of the hanger and that front and back cross-sectional shapes of the shoulder support portions 23 are such shapes as to be stacked on each other by an overlap thickness greater than or equal to a difference between the front-back thickness A and the thickness T, the second reference example is characterized in that the collar support portion 22 having a greater front-back thickness B than the basic thickness T of the hanger is formed at upper portions of the pair of left and right shoulder support portions 23, and that front and back cross-sectional shapes of the collar support portion 22 are such shapes as to be stacked on each other with an overlap thickness greater than or equal to a difference between the front-back thickness B and the thickness T.

In other words, as shown in FIGS. 7A to 7E showing cross-sections of the respective portions of the shoulder support portion 23, if a thickness of the hook portion 21 at a center of the hanger main body (=a thickness of the pants hanging lateral bar 24) is the basic thickness T, a portion of the collar support portion 22 which is connected to the left and right shoulder support portions 23 protrudes forward to thereby maintain a collar portion of the jacket hung on the shoulder support portions 23 in a three-dimensional shape. A protruding dimension B of the collar support portion 22 at this time is twice the basic thickness T. The portion of the collar support portion 22, which is protruded forward, is in such a shape as to be fitted in a back face of the collar support portion 22 of the previous hanger when the hangers are stacked. Similarly to the first reference example, front-back thicknesses of the shoulder support portions 23 increase toward opposite ends to reach front-back thicknesses A (see FIGS. 7C to 7D). The front-back thicknesses A are about twice the basic thickness T in the present reference example. Similarly to the first reference example, the shoulder support portions 23 have such cross-sectional shapes that a front side and a back side of the shoulder support portions 23 are fitted with each other.

As a result, the collar support portion 22 can have the front-back thickness to thereby prevent the collar portion of the jacket hung on the shoulder support portions 23 from losing its shape. Because a front side and a back side of the adjacent collar support portions are fitted with each other when the hangers are placed horizontally and stacked vertically, the hangers are not bulky as compared with the hanger for laundries having the basic shape.

The shape of the collar support portion 22 is not limited to the shape having a central portion recessed to the same position as the pants hanging lateral bar 24 as shown in FIG. 7B, but may be a shape having a central portion protruding farther forward than the pants hanging lateral bar 24 as shown with a reference numeral 22′ in FIG. 7E, or the like.

Third Embodiment

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 12. As shown in FIGS. 8 to 10, a garment hanger 30 according to the present embodiment includes a hook portion 31, a collar support portion 32, first shoulder support portions 33, second shoulder support portions 34, and a pants hanging lateral bar 35 and is also integrally provided with shoulder end retaining portions 36, pants retainers 37, skirt shoulder strap/hanging strap hanging portions 38, and strap falling-off preventing portions 39. The whole garment hanger 30 is integrally molded of thermoplastic resin such as polypropylene.

The embodiment is different from the second reference example in that the shoulder support portions are divided into the first shoulder support portions 33 and the second shoulder support portions 34 having different cross-sectional shapes. The portions with which insides of shoulder portions of a jacket come in contact are not angular but round and strength of the portions is increased.

In other words, the cross-sectional shape of each of the first shoulder support portions 33 near the collar support portion 32 is a combination of a lower C-shaped forward curved portion and an upper flipped-C-shaped collar receiving portion with a reversed center of curvature as shown in FIG. 11C. By forming the cross-sectional shape into an S shape, even if the portions with which the insides of the shoulder portions of the jacket come in contact are curved to be almost horizontal, the front protruding portion is fitted in the back recessed portion and does not lift when the plurality of hangers are stacked vertically in a direction of the thickness. Moreover, because the cross-sectional shape is made up of the two curved shapes oriented in different directions, they work as ribs to increase strength.

As shown in FIG. 11D, the second shoulder support portions 34 continuous with each of the first shoulder support portions 33 has a cross-sectional shape which is a combination of a central vertical rib portion 34 a, a first arc-shaped protruding portion 34 b protruding forward from an upper portion of the vertical rib portion 34 a, and a second arc-shaped protruding portion 34 c protruding backward from the upper portion of the vertical rib portion 34 a, and there is a height difference between positions of the first arc-shaped protruding portion 34 b and the second arc-shaped protruding portion 34 c so that the hangers are stacked with an upper portion of the first arc-shaped protruding portion 34 b and a lower portion of the second arc-shaped protruding portion 34 c of the adjacent hangers in contact with each other. Because there is the height difference between the positions of the first arc-shaped protruding portion 34 b and the second arc-shaped protruding portion 34 c, both the first arc-shaped protruding portion 34 b and the second arc-shaped protruding portion 34 c may have substantially horizontal upper faces and do not have any edges at the portions with which the inside of the shoulder portion of the jacket comes in contact. Accordingly, the shoulder portion can be prevented from losing its original shape. Moreover, in the garment hanger 30 of the present embodiment, since both the first shoulder support portions 33 and the second shoulder support portions 34 have round upper faces, the shape of the garment can be maintained even if the garment is hung on the hanger backwards, and the hanger can be used in both orientations.

FIG. 12 shows a state in which four garment hangers 30 of the present embodiment are stacked in the thickness direction. It can be seen that front portions and back portions of the hangers are neatly fitted with each other in the vertical direction and are not bulky even if the collar support portion 32, the first shoulder support portions 33, and the second shoulder support portions 34 are protruding in the thickness direction.

FIG. 13 shows a state in which ten garment hangers 30 of the present embodiment are stacked in the thickness direction. If the basic thickness is T and thicknesses of the first shoulder support portions 33 and the second shoulder support portions 34 are A, the total thickness is 10 T+α(α=A−T), saving considerable space in packing as compared with a thickness 10 A when the shapes of the hangers are not fitted with each other.

Although the shoulder support portions are divided into the first shoulder support portions 33 and the second shoulder support portions 34 having different cross-sectional shapes to thereby increase the strength of the whole shoulder support portions in the present embodiment, the whole shoulder support portions may have either one of the cross-sectional shapes. FIGS. 14 and 15 show a garment hanger 30′, where the cross-sectional shape of whole of each of the shoulder support portions 33 and 34 is an S-shape, that is a combination of a lower C-shaped forward curved portion and a flipped-C-shaped collar receiving portion with a reversed center of curvature above the forward curved portion. Furthermore, FIG. 16A is a cross-sectional view along line E3-F3 in FIG. 14, and FIG. 16B is a cross-sectional view along line E4′-F4′ in FIG. 14. In this embodiment, the cross-sectional shape of the first shoulder support portions 33 is the S-shape, and the cross-sectional shape of the second shoulder support portions 34 is the S-shape.

Similarly to the second reference example, if the thickness of the hook portion 31 at the center of the hanger main body (=the thickness of the pants hanging lateral bar 35) is the basic thickness T and if portions of the collar support portion 32 which is connected to the left and right first shoulder support portions 33 protrude forward, it is possible to maintain the collar portion of the jacket hung on the first shoulder support portions 33 in a three-dimensional shape.

As another characteristic of the embodiment of the present invention, a base end portion of each of the pants retainers 37 is formed at a lower position to form the skirt shoulder strap/hanging strap hanging portion 38 and the strap falling-off preventing portion 39 protrudes into the skirt shoulder strap/hanging strap hanging portion 38 on an extended line of the pants retainer 37 on a base end side. In the conventional ordinary hanger for laundries, the skirt string hanging portions 58 and 59 are formed to protrude from lower portions of the pants retainers 54 and the shoulder strap hanging portions 60 for hanging shoulder straps of a garment such as a skirt having the shoulder straps are formed at the shoulder support portions 52 as shown in FIG. 1. However, fibers of a garment such as a sweater are caught on the skirt string hanging portions 58 and 59 and the shoulder strap hanging portions 60 and are difficult to be removed.

Therefore, in the embodiment, by providing the strap falling-off preventing portions 39 inside the skirt shoulder strap/hanging strap hanging portions 38 and passing the skirt straps through the pants retainers 37 and hanging them on the skirt shoulder strap/hanging strap hanging portions 38, it is possible to prevent the fabric of the jacket from being caught. With regard to the shoulder straps, by hanging their upper portions on the second shoulder support portions 34 and passing their lower portions through the pants retainers 37 to be housed in the skirt shoulder strap/hanging strap hanging portions 38, the fabric of the jacket can be prevented from being caught on the shoulder strap hanging portions 60 as in the conventional example in FIG. 17, and a plurality of kinds of straps can be hung with a single form of the hanger.

The hook portions 11, 21, and 31 in the first and the second referential example and the third embodiments have such cross-sectional shapes as to be able to bear loads applied on the hangers as shown in FIGS. 14A to 14C. If thicknesses of cross-sections of top portions T of the hook portions 11, 21, and 31 are large, upper portions of the hook portions 11, 21, and 31 of the hangers may not be able to pass through a clearance between a groove of a screw conveyor for conveying the garments hung on the hangers in a laundry establishment and a bearing of the screw conveyor. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 15A to 15C, the thicknesses of the top portions T of the hook portions 11, 21, and 31 are made smaller than a depth of the groove of the screw conveyor. Because the reduction in the thicknesses of the portions T reduces the strength, thicknesses of the hook portions 11, 21, and 31 in the width direction are increased to thereby reinforce the strength. As a result, the hangers hung on the groove of the screw conveyor which is a conveying device in the laundry establishment can pass through the bearing that rotationally supports the screw conveyor.

The present invention can be suitably used not only in a laundry industry but also at home and in an apparel industry as a garment hanger having the function of preventing the shoulder portions of the jacket from losing their shapes, nor bulky during transportation, and not requiring time and effort to assemble into the three-dimensional shape. 

1. A garment hanger comprising: a hook portion; a collar support portion connected to the base end of said hook portion, which maintains a shape of a collar portion of a garment; and a hanger main body having a pair of left and right shoulder support portions for supporting shoulder portions of a garment, said pair of left and right shoulder support portions are connected at both ends of said collar support portion, wherein a front-back thickness A of each of the shoulder support portions is greater than a basic thickness T of the hanger main body, said basic thickness T is equal to the thickness of said base end of said hook portion, and an overlap thickness between a front shoulder support portion and a back shoulder support portion when the plurality of hanger main bodies are stacked in the thickness direction is almost equal to a difference between the front-back thickness A and the thickness T; a front-back thickness B of the collar support portion is greater than the basic thickness T of the hanger main body, and an overlap thickness between a front collar support portion and a back collar support portion when the plurality of hanger main bodies are stacked in the thickness direction is almost equal to a difference between the front-back thickness B and the thickness T; and a cross-sectional shape of at least of the near portions of said collar support portion or whole of each of the shoulder support portions is a combination of a lower C-shaped forward curved portion and a flipped-C-shaped collar receiving portion with a reversed center of curvature above the forward curved portion.
 2. The garment hanger according to claim 1, wherein in case that said cross-sectional shape of near portions of said collar support portion of each of the shoulder support portions is a combination of a lower C-shaped forward curved portion and a flipped-C-shaped collar receiving portion with a reversed center of curvature above the forward curved portion, a cross-sectional shape of remaining side portions continuing to said near portions of the shoulder support portions is a combination of a central vertical rib portion, a first arc-shaped protruding portion protruding forward from an upper portion of the vertical rib portion, and a second arc-shaped protruding portion protruding backward from the upper portion of the vertical rib portion, and there is a height difference between positions of the first arc-shaped protruding portion and the second arc-shaped protruding portion so that, when the plurality of hanger main bodies are stacked in the thickness direction, an upper portion of the first arc-shaped protruding portion and a lower portion of the second arc-shaped protruding portion of the adjacent hangers come in contact with each other in a vertical direction.
 3. The garment hanger according to claim 1, wherein a vertical thickness of a top portion of the hook portion is smaller than a depth of a groove of a screw conveyor which is an automatic conveying device in a laundry establishment, and a wall thickness of the hook portion is increased to make up for a shortage of strength.
 4. The garment hanger according to claim 2, wherein a vertical thickness of a top portion of the hook portion is smaller than a depth of a groove of a screw conveyor which is an automatic conveying device in a laundry establishment, and a wall thickness of the hook portion is increased to make up for a shortage of strength. 